Have you ever had AI try to draw your characters/covers?

[ladyofthedarkwoods]

I wouldn’t even touch AI if you paid me. It’s not only horrible for art but it’s also bad for the planet in the sense that it uses ridiculous amount of resources. I won’t even play around with it for this reason. It’s incredibly unethical, and that won’t change any time soon. I think people who use AI just don’t care about how it affects other people and the planet 🤷‍♀️

[Stargazer31]

AI art is inherently theft. And it sucks at generating women who look over the age of 20 and black people, as well as... Just hands in general. It's a no from me

[NickRowler]

For one thing, even when I tell AI "dark skin" it still never strays past the middle-brown spectrum.

AI is pulling from image libraries online which can sometimes prioritize white people. There was a conversation a feel years back about how when you Google words like “woman” you mostly get white people. In recent years they have been trying to tackle this, so doing that now you are probably will get a larger range of ethnicities.

But, I think AI doesn’t really understand the difference between a light skinned black person and a dark skinned black person. Because to AI, these are both darker than someone with pale skin.

[heyerimv]

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[cherrystark]

You know what, I call bullshit on this arguement.

And yet you still respond. My guy. When I say a lot of newer authors can't afford to hire an artist to do their covers, I mean it. Dropping a couple hundred on a single image, most people can't afford that. They have bills to pay, life is expensive.

around 20 to 30 books to effectively break-even.

We get 3-4 bucks per book. So selling 20-30 books only nets you between 60-90 bucks. That gets eaten up really quickly when a basic FB ad costs about 50 bucks. You could market like crazy every day and still not get any reads. It takes YEARS to make real money. Most indie writers end up writing dozens of books to fill up their catalog to increase their profits. They usually try out several cover making methods before they find a cover artist that fits their styles and budget.

Oh yeah, it is you again. What does this argument assume really? That most artist are scammers? We're all always at risk of scams in everything we do. But that risk is generally quite negligable, otherwise most markets would have broken down for a lack of trust already. What you are admitting here is that you think the majority of artists are scammers, so instead you turn to the biggest scam of the moment.

No, I'm not accusing most artists of being scammers. I'm stating that I've seen cover artists take pictures they got off Google, invert the image, and sell it to writers for 50 bucks. I've seen people take celebrity photos, toss on a filter, and sell them as covers. I've seen artists make generic covers and sell them at high markups. I've also them charge 50 bucks an edit on a 200 dollar custom cover. I've also seen artists claim an AI generated picture is their own work and sell it for the same rate they'd charge for one they painted by hand. I've also seen artists charge 50+ bucks an hour for a piece that looks like it was done on Microsoft paint by a toddler. What I am saying is that it can take years to find an artist that they trust and whose style compliments the writing.

[Leyelle]

I personally don't use AI for my stories either, because I think it takes away from what art is meant to be and takes jobs from artists as well. Art is self-expression, and since computers don't have selves to express it isn't real art. I love to draw and design covers and I'd hate to believe that in a few years cover designers will no longer have jobs because of it. I've played with AI before to see what it does, and like with the covers mentioned above, to compare the real work to the AI because I found it interesting (didn't know it was scraping at the time) but I definitely don't use it for my stories or characters

[Leyelle]

but by removing something on the background that is either distracting or needs to be replaced like getting rid of a vent from the wall.

This makes sense to me.

It’s not only horrible for art but it’s also bad for the planet in the sense that it uses ridiculous amount of resources.

Really? I did not know that. What does it do to the environment?

[Leyelle]

Alright everybody, let's please try to speak to each other kindly and respectfully. This space is for respectful discussions.

[llobucervallince]

used ai once for the moodboard for the design of one character. just that. I think is as far as I'd go, like not even actual references, but like just the basic ideas of what I want the character to be or the vibe I want them to have.

[Leyelle]

I could see that being kind of like using a prompt generator for a writing challenge

[KevinReijnders]

respectful

Tbh I have little to no interest in offering the usage of AI and its defenders any kind of respect. The AI models, those who created them and those who champion them have no respect for the artists they stole from and gleefully cheer on their replacement.

[abigaillmartin]

Yeah I tried it

It ABSOLUTELY SUCKS

LOL SCREW IT

I’LL JUST PHOTOSHOP IT AND MAKE IT IN CANVA

I’ll keep the ai chats but this

NOOOOOOO NOT IN A MILLION YEARS

drops mic

[Leyelle]

I don't think you have to respect the use of AI, just treat people with kindness. It's entirely okay to disagree with the use of AI. I agree with your view, it's replacing artists and stealing from us. But people are still people, you know? We can hate the robots without hating the people who use them for their stories.

[Leyelle]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[Leyelle]

I'm stating that I've seen cover artists take pictures they got off Google, invert the image, and sell it to writers for 50 bucks. I've seen people take celebrity photos, toss on a filter, and sell them as covers. I've seen artists make generic covers and sell them at high markups. I've also them charge 50 bucks an edit on a 200 dollar custom cover. I've also seen artists claim an AI generated picture is their own work and sell it for the same rate they'd charge for one they painted by hand. I've also seen artists charge 50+ bucks an hour for a piece that looks like it was done on Microsoft paint by a toddler

While scammers are a real thing, I do think this is kind of an unfair statement as there are so many scams in this world and so many real people willing to do work, even for really really cheap. I just got a very good cover from vapidink for my novel "Sun with a Paper Crown" for FREE just because an artist felt like gifting one to somebody. It's freaking gorgeous

I've also seen artists charge 50+ bucks an hour for a piece that looks like it was done on Microsoft paint by a toddler.

Also like, art is hard, and subjective, so please try to respect artists more with your statements.

[KevinReijnders]

Yeah, but it's made, used and championed by people. The machine is a machine and could not exist without the people behind and in front of it. Granted, my biggest distaste goes out to the founders and those who religiously champion it. But I offer no sympathy to those who, in a sense of uncaring centrism, use it casually either. It's as WildMoon says:

I think people who use AI just don’t care about how it affects other people and the planet

[Leyelle]

But, I think AI doesn’t really understand the difference between a light skinned black person and a dark skinned black person. Because to AI, these are both darker than someone with pale skin.

Makes sense. It's not like a computer can be racist/colorist, just ill-informed.

[llobucervallince]

I remember an anectdote of an art teacher showing their class this image generators, then asked the class to think very hard what they want the AI to do, and to describe the best they can the image in their mind. The students kept trying, but it wasn't quite what they wanted, while the concept was what they described, the AI couldn't replicate what was in their minds, and they kept trying and trying.

The conclussion was, that AI artist, don't really think about the art they're doing, they just know the words associate to a very vague idea, actual artist knows exactly what they want to draw, and even if they can't make it as beautiful as the AI would, the AI wouldn't get as close as that with just words.

Or something like that, I read it last year, but can't remember where to find it.

[Leyelle]

The conclussion was, that AI artist, don't really think about the art they're doing, they just know the words associate to a very vague idea, actual artist knows exactly what they want to draw,

I agree. because humans with feeling will always be able to create something more heartfelt than a machine ever can

[llobucervallince]

There's also this tumblr saying that AI just proved the existence of souls by showing what art is without it.